Halo 5: Guardians – “The Universe is Our Most Important Character”

“We’ve studied Star Wars. And I think that Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter are three franchises that have something very unique which is sort of a universe where they have devotion. One in which you can tell hundreds of stories,” says Head of 343 Industries Bonnie Ross in a recent interview with Forbes.

Forbes Contributor Todd Kenreck conducted a fantastic series of interviews with several key members of 343 Industries including Bonnie Ross, Frank O’Connor, Tim Longo and others.

The second part of Kenreck’s six-part interview series was published this morning. In it, Ross and O’Connor touch on the future of Halo. “For me, I guess it’s a lifestyle,” Ross said about how she feels about the Halo franchise.

You really get a sense of how much Ross and the team at 343 Industries care about Halo in these first two interviews.

I look at Master Chief as the most important character of the franchise. But for 343 Industries, it’s the universe. Halo 5: Guardians will expand this universe even more when it releases later this month. And the universe’s story will continue as Creative Assembly jumps into the Halo franchise with Halo Wars 2.

Check out part one and part two of Kenreck’s interviews. It looks like he’s releasing one a day so be on the lookout for part three tomorrow.

This is Microsoft’s Star Wars

Microsoft’s ad blitz proves Halo 5: Guardians is their Star Wars. It all centers around #HuntTheTruth. What started as weekly episodic audio logs would eventually encompass primetime live-action commercials.

#HuntTheTruth explores the origins of John 117’s (Master Chief) history. From his childhood to humanity’s savior. But the truth is never what it seems. The first season covers Benjamin Giraud’s (voiced by Keegan Michael-Key) journey to discover the truth about the Master Chief. The voice cast for HuntTheTruth is impressive. Season 2 includes Peter Serafinowicz, Mark Hamill and Alan Tudyk.

And the Halo fanbase is loving it. According to Time, 6.7 million listeners tuned into #HuntTheTruth. That puts it in the top 1% of all iTunes podcasts. I love it. I hope more publishers adopt this type of advertising to introduce their games.

Besides #HunttheTruth, Microsoft is also going the traditional advertising route. Check out the timelapse below of a Halo 5: Guardians mural being painted in London.

The mural didn’t stay untouched for long.

The third episode of the second season of #HunttheTruth goes live tomorrow. It’s going to be fun to see how last night’s live action trailer ties into tomorrow’s episode. Here it is in case you missed it.

There’s nothing quite like the hype leading up to a Halo release.

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